Losoong (Namsoong) is a series of public holidays in the Indian state of Sikkim. It begins on the first day of the10th month of Tibetan Lunar Calendar – the new moon of the “Kurneet Lovo”, according to Dungkit Karchu (Lepcha Calendar). This means it usually falls in December in the western calendar.
Sonam Losoong (Farmers’ Harvest) is a New Year celebration of the Sikkimese Bhutia. It is called Namsoong by the Lepchas. The festival marks the time when the farmers rejoice and celebrate their harvest. Although the festival is celebrated privately among family members and friends there is an air of festivity all around. The Black Hat dance takes place at this festival commemorating the victory of good over evil, with ‘chaams’ held in many monasteries two days prior to Losoong.
The festival of Lossong is celebrated with traditional gaiety and colour both by the Lepchas and Bhutias. On the occasion pujas are performed for peace and prosperity for the new year. Certain competitions are also held in traditional skills, such as archery and the merry-making will continue for days.
Today is the birthday, in 1945, of American singer, songwriter Stephen Stills who was a member of Buffalo Springfield, Crosby Stills Nash & Young and Manassas. With CS&N he had the 1969 UK No.17 single ‘Marrakesh Express’ and the 1970 US No.1 album Deja Vu plus the 1971 solo UK No.37 single ‘Love The One Your With.’ Stills’s first solo album, Stephen Stills, (1970) went gold and is the only album to feature both Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zj8FlXGPcOQ
Today is Berchtold’s Day. This day is a public holiday in the following Swiss cantons: Aargau, Bern, Fribourg, Glarus, Jura, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, Obwalden, Schaffhausen, Solothurn, Thurgau, Vaud, Zug, and Zurich.
Berchtold’s Day commemorates Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen (d. 1218), who founded Bern, the capital of Switzerland, in the twelfth century. According to legend, he left on a hunt declaring he would name his fledgling city after the first animal he killed. The hunting trip was a success and the Duke managed to kill a bear, or bern in German.
Despite many references to the day as St. Berchtold’s day, he wasn’t a saint (certainly not to bears anyway). We are just so used to holidays in Europe being named after saints, that many people have automatically canonized the Duke.
Handily placed in the calendar, by the ever-practical Swiss, to give an extra day to enjoy or recover from the New Year’s celebrations, Berchtold’s Day is a light-hearted, family-oriented celebration.
Imagine going back in time and trying to explain this…
New Year’s Eve is December 31st, the last day of the year, in the Gregorian calendar. Countries that still use the Julian Calendar observe New Year’s Eve on January 13th.
New Year’s Day was fixed at January 1st in 153 BC, when the two Roman consuls, after whom – in the Roman calendar – years were named and numbered, chose that date, mainly for military reasons. During the Middle Ages, a number of different Christian feast dates were used to mark the New Year, though calendars often continued to display the months in columns running from January to December in the Roman fashion.
Most countries in Western Europe had officially adopted January 1st as New Year’s Day even before they adopted the Gregorian calendar. This was called Circumcision Style, because it was the date of the ‘Feast of the Circumcision’, which occurred on the eighth day after Christmas Day, and is said to have been the day when Christ was circumcised.
There are many tradition’s associated with New Year’s Eve.
“Auld Lang Syne”, written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1788, is traditionally sung at midnight on New Year’s Eve. The words auld lang syne mean “times gone by”.
In Japan, at midnight on Shōgatsu (New Year’s Eve), Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times to ring in the New Year and drive away the 108 evil desires that humans fall prey to. This event is called Joya no Kane and is carried on Japanese radio.
In Chile it is traditional for people to go to their local cemetery to party. It isn’t so much for luck, more a chance to be reunited with lost loved ones.
Spaniards eat a each grape for chime of the clock at midnight. Whoever finishes before the chimes end gets luck and happiness in the coming year.
The Irish put some mistletoe under their pillows before going to sleep on New Year’s Eve. It brings luck in love and a future husband or wife.
In the Philippines they wear polka dots to guarantee wealth. Roundness signifies prosperity so they fill pockets with coins and eat circular fruits too.
Families in Ecuador build a scarecrow and burn it to destroy all the bad things from the past 12 months.
Red underwear brings good luck in Turkey on December 31st, but the colour is associated with evil the rest of the year and should not be worn.
In Brazil white flowers are thrown into the ocean for Goddess of the Sea, Yemanja. Other offerings like perfume are sent out in small wooden boats.
Italians throw old possessions from their balconies on to the streets below, the but watch out – the items can be anything from toasters to fridges.
Onions are hung on front doors in Greece to signify rebirth and regrowth and in the morning, parents get kids up for church by smacking them with the vegetable.
In parts of Latin America, on New Year’s Eve people wear yellow underwear if they want good luck in the New Year and red underwear if they want love.
New Year’s Eve, known as Hogmanay, is celebrated in Scotland more than in the rest of the UK. This is because Christmas was effectively banned in Scotland from 1560 until 1712 due to the Scottish Reformation and only became a public holiday in 1958. Instead of Christmas, the Scots threw their end-of-year festivities into New Year. Rather than have a holiday on New Year’s Eve, the canny Scots give themselves an extra public holiday on the Day after New Year to help recover.
Today is Constitution Day in North Korea. This holiday commemorates the adoption of the current constitution on December 27th 1972.
After the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea was formed in 1948, the initial constitution was based on the 1936 Soviet Constitution. Indeed, Joseph Stalin was personally involved in editing the constitution.
The 1948 Constitution was replaced by a new Constitution on December 27th 1972. Under the new constitution, Kim Il-sung became the President of North Korea. Under the old constitution, there was no one designated as the head of state.
It’s Christmas Eve – a holiday in many countries and observed in many more. Many businesses will close early and government offices are closed in some places.
Christmas Eve marks the culmination of the Advent period before Christmas that started on the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve. Many churches will mark the end of Advent with midnight church services.
In Latin America, Christmas Eve marks the end of a nine-day period before Christmas, called ‘Las Posandas’ which represents the none months of labour for the Virgin Mary before she gave birth to Jesus.
On the night of Christmas Eve, children around the world will leave food and drink for whoever will come to their house and bring them presents. Who this is, depends on what part of the world you live. It might be Santa Claus or Father Christmas; but in Switzerland, it will be the Christchild who delivers the presents. In Denmark, it’s the Christmas elf; in Sweden, it’ll be a small man and in Finland, it’ll be the Christmas goat!
In Latvia, the custom is that you can open the presents under the Christmas Tree after the Christmas Eve dinner, with a slight twist – before you take your gift, you’ll have to recite a small poem. A unique tradition of Christmas decoration in Ireland is a large white candle which is placed at the entrance of the house or in a window. This candle is lit by the youngest child on Christmas Eve. This is a symbol to welcome the Holy Family and the candle can only be extinguished by a girl or a woman named Mary.
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